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(No Model.)

B. H. VELLINES.

ELEGTROTHERAPEUTIG BAND.

No. 569,529. Patented Oct. 13, 1896.

WI TWESSES 1.7V VE'N TOR wzzu Villa .lttorney UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

BENTON ll. vELLINEs, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA,

ELECTROTHERAPEUTIC BAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,529, dated October1 1896- Application filed November 30,1895. Serial No. 570,623. (Nomodel.)

To mi] whom it 'nm (:oltczv'lt;

Be it known that I, BENTON II. VELLINEs, acitizen of the United States,and a resident of Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State ofVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTherapeutic Bands for Personal ear; and I do declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and toletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view of the band. Fig. 2 is acentral longitudinal section through the band.

The invention has relation to therapeutic bands of that class which arecapable of electrogalvanic action and designed for wear by personssuffering from rheumatism, neuralgia, or other diseases, and is designedto provide a band of this character which can be readily adjusted andsecured to limbs of different sizes, and which is of simple and durableconstruction.

\Yith this object in view the invention consists in the novelconstruction and combination of parts, all as hereinafter described, andpointed out in the appended claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates aflexible metallic strip or body portion, preferably of copper, which isbent into circular or band form, its end portions being reduced in widthand thickness to form tongues a, which overlap each other to a greateror less extent.

13 is a second strip, usually of zinc, which is placed upon the outerface of the copper strip and is made to conform to the curvaturethereof. This zinc strip is equal in length to the unreduced portion ofthe copper strip and extends only from the base of one of the tongues ato the base of the other tongue.

Placed over the Zinc is a tape or web band C, one end portion of whichis provided with a buckle D, and the other end with a free portion 0,adapted to engage the said buckle.

To secure the zinc and the tape band securely in place, the upper andlower edge portions of the copper are turned outwardly and over closelyupon the tape, as seen at (Z.

Formed through the copper at suitable intervals are small perforationsj, which serve to admit to the zinc the acid exhalations of the body toexcite galvanic action between the two metals and also to bring the skininto contact with the zinc.

The band, being flexible, can be readily sprung open and clasped arounda limb, and will fit limbs widely varying in size. The tape band andbuckle form a convenient means for securing it in place.

I do not wish to limit myself to copper and zinc as the two metalsemployed, as any two metals capable of galvanic action and possessingthe requisite flexibility may be employed.

I do not, however, claim, broadly, a therapeutic band of circular form,composed of superposed strips of metal of opposite character so arrangedthat each is partially in contact wit-h the skin of the wearer, as suchbands have heretofore been patented, as shown in the patent to Payne,No. 502,753, dated August 8, 1893. The present device, however, isdistinguished from that shown and described in the said patent in thefeature of the inner strip having the reduced overlappingadjusting-tongues at its ends, and also in the tape band, which extendsentirely around both strips of metal and is provided with fasteningdevices, said tongues and tape band forming means whereby the band has awide range of adj ustment in its application. Another novel feature ofthe presentband is that of turning the upper and lower marginal portionsof the inner strip outwardly and downwardly over the edge portions ofthe outer strip and of the tape band, whereby the said strip and bandare secured in place and the inner strip has a perfectly plain innersurface, except where it is broken by perforations. I also dispense withthe insulating-strips and the supplemental bars of electropositive orelectronegative material, as employed in the device shown in saidpatent.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

In a therapeutic band for personal wear, the combination with a circularperforated band of metal, such as copper, having its end portionsreduced in thickness to form extended overlapping adjusting-tongues a,of a second strip B of opposite character, such as zinc, placed aroundthe said copper band, and of the same length as the unreduced portionthereof, and a tape band placed entirely around the zinc and the tonguesof the copper, and provided at its end portions with means for theiradjustable connection, the

upper and lower edge portions of the copper 10 being bentoutwardly'andover upon the zinc and tape, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature. in presence of two witnesses.

BENTON H. VELLINES. Witnesses:

M. H. HALL, T. F. MILLER.

